Cascading sheer fabrics, beautiful massive floral arrangements, sumptuous leather chaise lounge chairs and a crowd of the rich, famous and fashionable created an ambience of luxury at the NYC launch of mega-producer Pharrell Williams’ Qream Liqueur. Celebs like Q-Tip, Jay-Z, Russell Simmons, Tyson Beckford and Santigold were there to test out the sweet creamy beverage designed with women in mind. One guest raved, “It tastes like strawberry milk—I love it!” BET.com snagged the N*E*R*D frontman to ask about the inspiration behind the delicious liqueur.
BET.com: What made you want to create a drink especially for the ladies?
PW: That was actually the angle that made the most sense because everything else was covered. The two holes that were out there were indulgence and women, so I decided to blend the two together. I didn’t want to be another guy making a vodka that tastes like rocket fuel.
BET.com: So is that why you went with a liqueur versus a traditional spirit?
PW: Well, I thought about it and chose cream liqueur as a category but I wanted to change it a little bit. I wanted to make the consistency thinner so a woman wouldn’t feel weighed down also when they burped it wasn’t going to be a bubble coming out. [Laughs].
BET.com: So you really kept the ladies in mind when you were developing this drink?
PW: Absolutely, I thought about the calories because I know women care about that. Qream is 12.5% alcohol by volume so it’s comparable to wine but less calories. And, it’s also 99% lactose free, so people like myself that are lactose intolerant, you’re totally to do whatever you want.
BET.com: What made you choose peach and strawberry flavors?
PW: I definitely didn’t want to do mocha and I definitely didn’t want to do coffee. I wanted to do something that felt a little bit more fruity, a little bit more tropical and a little bit more exotic, so that when women taste it, they feel like what I want them to feel like—exotic.
BET.com: And I hear that you’ve developed recipes as well?
PW: We hired a bunch of chefs to make pastries and cupcakes and other baked goods using Qream as a main ingredient. All the recipes they came up with are super awesome. You can check them out when you go to our website, Qreamwithaq.com.